George Michael: Young Dragons are the future business leaders of Cyprus

Over 300 nominations were received for the first CBN Young Dragon Awards, followed by 21,344 registered, valid votes, according to the CEO of IMH, George Michael.

Welcoming guests to the annual awards ceremony, which has gotten underway at the Municipal Theatre in Nicosia, Michael went on to explain what a Young Dragon in the realm of business is. “Young Dragons are professionals, executives and entrepreneurs, under the age of 40, who have demonstrated outstanding achievements, leadership skills and a commitment to having a positive impact on their companies and on the broader business community. They are the early achievers, the highflyers, the talented and the ambitious. They are the professionals under 40 who have shown exceptional accomplishments. They are the future business leaders of Cyprus,” he said.

The awards are organised by CBN (Cyprus Business News), the English-language business portal of IMH. “As you may well know, IMH is the biggest corporate events and media company in Cyprus,” Michael pointed out. “We have always striven to inspire and empower a new era of young business leaders, who are reshaping industries and pushing boundaries.”

Awards tonight, will be given to individuals in 9 categories. Eight of these are sectoral, covering all the major sectors of the economy. One is the young entrepreneurs award, for self-made individuals who have set up their own, successful business.

“We received over 300 nominations, which were submitted through an open call procedure,” the IMH CEO revealed, adding that all nominations were endorsed by the employers of the nominees. “The IMH media and operations team, processed all applications and confirmed that they comply with award rules, regulations and criteria.”

Michael continued: “An awards committee was set up, with 50 diverse personalities from the business world of Cyprus. The awards committee, in their collective wisdom, evaluated all nominations and selected, by voting, the 3 candidates who scored the higher points for each category. These candidates were announced in all our media and the public voting process commenced. Voting numbers were phenomenal, with 21,344 registered, valid votes.”

The individuals receiving an award tonight will be the candidates with the highest score in the public and committee voting (on a 50-50% weighted average).

“All award procedures contain a big element of Subjectivity,” Michael explained. “There are rules and regulations, there are criteria, but these can never be 100% objective, especially when it comes to people. For us, all tonight’s nominees and candidates are winners. So, my congratulations go to all tonight’s candidates, wishing them every success in their professional lives.”

Concluding, the media group’s CEO said: “Awards such as these cannot take place without the support of our sponsors: So, I would like to extend a big thank you to all our Sponsors: CBN Young Dragon Awards are presented by CYTA Business. The Gold sponsor is Punin Group. Young Dragon Champion Sponsor is ECOMMBX. Nespresso is our award sponsor.”